Public health says Occupy SF camp is dirty, unsafe

The city says these protesters are making a mess. (Lance Iverson/The Chronicle)

The camp at Occupy San Francisco is an imminent hazard to health, the city’s public health department told demonstrators late Tuesday.

“Evidence of excrement, urine and vomit were observed throughout the park,” the department said in a notice. “Fecal material was observed on stairs and grass. A container of human waste was observed along the Embarcadero side of the park.”

“Several piles of vomit were observed along the Embarcadero side of the park,” the notice read. “Pile of feces and tampons found at a nearby pathway. Flies and urine observed along pathway.”

The health notice and a separate order from police to leave the park may be a sign that the city is laying the groundwork to clear out the park.

Roughly 200 protesters have been camping at Justin Herman Plaza as part of the national occupy movement. They’ve set up roughly 50 tents and a community center.

Jeffrey Herwatt, who was been hanging out at the camp for the last few weeks, said the city was exaggerating the problems.

“I think it is a bunch of bull (crap),” he said. “There was some dog poo in a grassy area, but we cleaned it up.”

There were some smells of urine, but that was from homeless people who have been living at the park since before the protest, Herwatt said.

“They told us they used (the trees) as a urinal,” he said. “We got out mops and Pine-Sol and cleaned it up.”

Herwatt, a 46-year-old retired Army vet, said he hasn’t been sleeping at the camp because a medical condition requires he use a breathing machine at night. He’s never seen what the city has when he’s there.